V5 Quick Tip #4: Off-Center Midtone Masks

Sean Bagshaw’s newest TKActions V5 Quick Tip looks at off-center midtone masks, also referred to as Zone masks. These are some of my favorite luminosity masks. The standard Lights and Darks masks always include either the lightest lights or the darkest darks, and using them can sometimes gray-down the whites or gray-up the blacks. Zone masks effectively eliminate the blacks and whites from the mask and thereby allow midtone values to be adjusted independently. Zones 2-1/2 and Zone 7-1/2 are a couple masks I often try. Zone 2-1/2 for adjusting the dark midtones and Zone 7-1/2 for the light midtones. However, the V5 panel includes presets for 21 different Zone masks, so there are lots of options. Zone masks can also be modified to make them more or less inclusive using the V5’s modification buttons. The V5 panel makes it easy to quickly craft a Zone mask and to put it work

Sean’s new video tip covers choosing the right mask, modifying it, and then painting it to make it just right for a particular image. If you’ve not experimented with Zone masks, I’m sure this video will provide incentive to try. With a little practice, Zone masks can be extremely helpful when developing images in Photoshop.

One thought on “V5 Quick Tip #4: Off-Center Midtone Masks”

Hi Tony! I have been struggling to adapt to the new V5 panel arrangement. Sean’s quick tips have been great in helping me to take advantage of the panel’s improved features. Thanks for all your continuing good work.